[antiwar-van] ADRIAN DRAGAN IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT

[No One is Illegal-Vancouver]

* please post widely *

JUSTICE FOR ADRIAN DRAGAN

ROMA REFUGEE IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT AND ON HUNGER STRIKE

Adrian Dragan, a Roma refugee that has been held for 16 months awaiting
removal to Romania, has been put into solitary confinement at Fraser
Pre-trial in Coquitlam, BC after refusing to sign documents that he is
willing to return to Romania.

He is a Roma (also known as "Gypsy") and faces serious danger and
repression if removed to Romania, where Roma people are regularly attacked
and persecuted. In fact, Adrian renounced his citizenship in Romania in
1993 to condemn the racism against Roma there, and since he does not have
formal citizenship, he is now being held in jailed limbo, without rights
as a citizen in either Canada or Romania.

Canada has already tried once to send Adrian to Romania, but he was
refused at the Romanian border. Since he is no longer a citizen of
Romania, it would have been against international law to force him to
enter, so he was sent back to Canada and is now in continued detention by
Immigration Canada.

Liviu Maior, the Ambassador of Romania to Canada, has stated in writing
that “pursuant to the Romanian and international laws, the
stateless person Adrian Dragan has no more legal connection with
Romania
Romania would receive the stateless person Adrian Dragan only as a
result of the latter's express will.” And yet Canadian officials persist
unable to deport him and refusing to release him.

As a stateless citizen, Dragan has no homeland and no country of
residence. As a signatory of the United Nations’ 1954 Convention Relating
to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the
Reduction of Statelessness, Canada has an international duty to accept and
protect stateless people.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

1.  In the immediate, Adrian is on hunger strike. So it is essential that
people put pressure on the Coquitlam jail.  Please take five minutes to
call the Director of Programs, Ardith Watson (see below).

2.  Call, write or fax the appropriate Canadian government officials.  A
sample letter is provided below.

Take the time to demand that:

- Adrian’s documents be returned to him
- Adrian be released from solitary confinement and not be repressed for
asserting his rights as an aslyum seeker by refusing to sign documents
that state he is willing to be deported to Romania
- Canada live up to its obligations under the United Nations Convention on
the Reduction of Statelessness and not deport him to Romania unless the
government can guarantee Adrian's complete citizenship rights, safety and
freedom in Romania.

For more information, contact:
No One is Illegal Vancouver: noii-van at resist.ca/ (604) 682-3269 x 7149
Ontario Coalition Against Poverty: ocap at tao.ca/ (416) 925-6939

================================================SAMPLE LETTER:

Ardith Watson, Director of Programs
North Fraser Pre-trial Center
1451 Kingsway,
Port Coquitlam BC, V3C 1S2
Fax: 604-468-3556
Telephone: 604-468-3500 x 0

Peter Lundy
Deputy Director, Central Europe Dept
Foreign Affairs Canada
613-996-7800

Embassy of Romania
655 Rideau Street
Ottawa, ON K1N 6A3
Fax:  789-4365
Tel: (613) 789-3709 x101/(613) 789-5345 / (613) 789-4038
romania at cyberus.ca

Romanian Consulate
111 Peter St.
Toronto, ON M5V 2H1
Phone: 416/585-5802
Fax:  416/585 4798

Judy Sgro, P.C., M.P.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 1L1
Fax: 613 947 8319, Tel: 613 992 7774
E-mail: Minister at cic.gc.ca

Anne McLellan, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
c/o Solicitor General of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0A6
Fax: 613 990-9077, Tel: 613 991 2924
E-mail: McLellan.A at parl.gc.ca

------------------------------

Adrian Dragan, a Roma refugee that has been held for 16 months awaiting
removal to Romania, has been put into solitary confinement at Fraser
Pre-trial in Coquitlam, BC after refusing to sign documents that he is
willing to return to Romania. He is currently on hunger strike in protest
of his continuing treatment by the Canadian government.

He is a Roma (also known as "Gypsy") and faces serious danger and
repression if removed to Romania, where Roma people are regularly attacked
and persecuted. In fact, Adrian renounced his citizenship in Romania in
1993 to condemn the racism against Roma there, and since he does not have
formal citizenship, he is now being held in jailed limbo, without rights
as a citizen in either Canada or Romania.

Canada has already tried once to send Adrian to Romania, but he was
refused at the border and sent back to Canada, to continued detention by
Immigration Canada.

On behalf of Adrian, I demand that all of Adrian’s documents that were
confiscated be returned to him, that Adrian not be compelled in any way to
sign documents that state that he is willing to be returned to Romania,
and that Adrian be release from solitary confinement immediately.

I find it deplorable that Canada would treat asylum seekers in such a
manner: placing them under duress in order to compel them to “agree” to be
deported.   Canada must live up to its obligations under the United
Nations Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness and not deport him to
Romania unless the government can guarantee Adrian's complete citizenship
rights, safety and freedom in Romania.

Sincerely,





-- 
To subscribe to our low-traffic email annoucement list, please email
noii-van at resist.ca

No One is Illegal- Vancouver
noii-van at resist.ca
(604)682-3269 x 7149

The No One is Illegal campaign is in full confrontation with Canadian
colonial border policies, denouncing and taking action to combat racial
profiling of immigrants and refugees, detention and deportation policies,
and wage-slave conditions of migrant workers and non-status people.

We struggle for the right for our communities to maintain their
livelihoods and resist war, occupation and displacement and build
alliances and support indigenous sisters and brothers also fighting theft
of land and displacement.